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Hey all,

I’ve got a tough question regarding 1L summer. As background, I’m currently roughly top 1/3 at a lower T14. K-JD. I’d like to practice in my home town, which is a non-NY major market (think SF, LA, Chi).

My options are (1) working at the Legal Aid office in my hometown / target market, or (2) an in-house internship at a F100 subsidiary in a smaller market completely unrelated to where I’d like to practice.

On one hand, I’ve heard that being in my target city should be a priority, as I can network with alums / learn about the market / try to snag interviews before OCI. On the other, as a K-JD whose only corporate experience is summer internships in college (along with an Econ major), it seems really helpful to get some solid business experience this summer. The F100 position pays just enough to cover living expenses, and I’d be living at home if I did Legal Aid, so money isn’t a factor. Splitting the summer is unfortunately not an option.

I’d really appreciate any opinions you all might have on this issue. Thanks!

How much of your resume already points to your hometown? What kind of work do you want to do at a firm? What kind of work would you do at the in-house internship?

bk1 wrote:How much of your resume already points to your hometown? What kind of work do you want to do at a firm? What kind of work would you do at the in-house internship?

I went to school near my hometown, and most of my jobs have been in that area, so I think establishing ties wouldn't be a problem. I also don't know any lawyers there, so networking seems to be valuable. I'd like to do transactional work at a firm, and the in-house position would be a rotational program among their departments (mostly employment & labor law). Thanks for the reply! I have to make a decision by the end of the day so the quick response is much appreciated.

The reason I bring up the resume is because having grown up somewhere is a great tie but often it's easier if your resume conveys your ties rather than having to affirmatively bring it up in a cover letter or during an interview. If you've already got a bunch of bullet points that convey ties (e.g. undergrad + several jobs) then you don't need the reinforcement of working there 1L summer. That said, having an extra tie is always helpful as is the ability to network during the summer. IMO, and others may disagree, I don't think networking is all that valuable for biglaw. Their hiring criteria is their hiring criteria and networking isn't going to overcome much. It can help you get your resume more easily looked at by firms that don't come to your OCI or that you don't get screening interviews with, but outside of that I don't think networking is a huge advantage for biglaw. It also seems that the in-house job isn't going to really help you get a taste of what you want to do since it seems that you won't be doing much transactional work (though neither is legal aid). Of course having worked in-house does help convey at least some transactional interest.

I honestly think it's mostly a tossup. One job helps reinforce ties and helps network (which is helpful but not incredibly so). The other job helps convey transactional interest but doesn't really get you a taste of the kind of work you are interested in. Since its close, I'd honestly just pick the job you think you'd prefer. Personally I'd lean a little towards the in-house job since it is going to be rarer at OCI (many of your peers will have worked at PI orgs though few will have worked in-house), it conveys some transactional interest (this is something your resume doesn't already convey, unlike ties which it already does), there's at least a low chance that you could do some work you might be interested, and you'll be doing work that is at least closer to what biglaw firms do.